Rotary engine



(No Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet I.

F. D. SWEET.

' ROTARY ENGINE.

Patented Dec. 25,1894.-

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(No Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet 2.

v F. D. SWEET. ROTARY ENGINE,

No. 531,481. Patented Deo. 25, 1894.

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F. D. SWEET. ROTARY ENGINE.

3 Sheets-Sheet 3.

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Patented Dec. 25, 1894.

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PATENT OFFICE.

FREDERICK D. SWEET, OF ELYRIA, OHIO.

I ROTARY ENGINE.

SPECIFICATION forming-part of Letters Patent No. 8531,4 81, datedDecember2 5, 1894.

Application filed March 2,1 94. seam... 502,086. (No model.) 1

To all whom it may concern:

' Be it known that I, FREDERICK D. SWEET, a citizen of theUnited States,residing at Elyria, in the county of Lorain and State of Ohio, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Rotary Engines; and I dohereby declare the following tobe a full, clear, and exact descriptionof the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to whichit appertains, to make and use the same.

The'invention relates to certain improvements in rotary engines; and itconsists in the combination with an annular cylinderand a rotary piston,of a sliding abutment having inlet and exhaust ports for the steam; inthe mechanism for operating the abutment; in

the construction and arrangement'of the valves and the mechanism foroperating said valves; and in the construction and combination ofcertain parts of the engine to be presently described, all of which willbe pointed out in the claims.

Figure 1 is a side elevation of my improved engine. Fig. 2 is a planview thereof. Fig. 3 is a transverse section through the box on line 3--3. Fig. tie a longitudinal vertical section through the box andcylinder on line 4-4 of Fig. 2; and Fig. 5 is a horizontal section online 55 of Fig; 4.

I will now proceed'to describe the construction shown in the drawings.

A represents an annular cylinder; and B a horizontal box communicatingtherewith. The cylinder and-box are formed of a shell, (1, having anexternal flanged, and a plate a which is boltedto said .fiange. The saidcylinder andbox are supported bya'base a? of any suitable form. A shaft0 is mounted centrally with respect to the cylinder'in suit; ablebearings, passing through theshella and disk of. A circular disk D iskeyed, or otherwise secured, tothe shaft 0, lying between the plate aand the side of the'shell a; and the outer edge fits closely against thesides of said plate and shell, thereby closing the inner periphery ofthe cylinder A. Suitable packing is interposed between the sides of thedisk and the plate and shell to prevent the escape of steam from thecylinder. In the cylinder A and secured to the disk D is the piston F.

In the box B a sliding abutment E is placed, which abutment is adaptedto enter and form a steam tight barrier across the cylinder, or to beretracted into the box B, leaving the cylinder free for the passage ofthe piston.

' On one side of the abutment is a rib, which projects out through theside of the box, and

to this rib is bolted a bar G, which bar extends toward the shaft to apoint where it may be acted upon by the cam H,said cam being rigidlysecured to the shaft. The function of this cam is to push the abutmentout of the cylinder. Inthe'rear end of the abutment is'a socket ewhichserves asa cylinder, in which lies the fixed piston I.

Inthe box B, above and below the abutment, are the steam chambers b andbf respectively. The upper chamber is in communication with the steaminlet pipe .I, While the lower chamber 1) is in communication withexhaust pipe J.

In the abutment are two ports e 6 The port e is the inlet port.' Bothopenings of this port are through the upper side of the abutment, onenear the innerend thereof, so that, when the abutment is in thecylinder, the .port discharges into the cylinder, and one near themiddle thereof in communication with the chamber 13. The openings of theother port are in the lower side of the abutment,one near the inner endthereof in communication with the cylinder when the abutment isin it,and the other near the middle in communication with the chamber b.

In the port 6' is a valve K the stem is of which extends sidewise out ofthe box B. An arm Jo secured to the valve stem is connected by means ofa slot and pin with the sliding bar L, whichbar is mounted in bracketssecured to the bar G. The end of this bar extends toward the shaft to aposition to be struck and operated by the cam M which is secured to theshaft 0. A spring 10 moves the bar L in the direction to close the valveK; and the cam moves it in the opposite direction, against the spring,thereby opening the valve andpermitting the passage of steam through theport e.

A port 6 extends through the abutment, one end being in communicationwith the chamber 6 and one with chamber b. Near its middle this portconnects with the cylinder 6, and at the point of connection a valve Nis placed, by means of which the said cylinder may be placed incommunication with either of the chambers 19 I). The stem n of thisvalve extends out through one side of the box, and an arm n which issecured thereto is connected with and operated by a slide P. This slideis connected to the side of the bar G, and its end projects toward theshaft a little distance beyond the end of the bar G. A spring 0 exertsits force to move the slide in the described position relative to thebar G; and when in this position, the valve N is turned so that steam isadmitted to the cylinder e from the chamber b. The pressure of the steamthus admitted moves the abutment into the cylinder A and holds it there.The inner end of the slide P lies close to the bar G so that it will beengaged by the same cam H.

The operation of the described mechanism is as follows: When the partsare in the position shown in Fig. 4 the abutment is being held in thecylinder A by the pressure of steam in cylinder e. The valve K is beingheld open by the action of the cam M on the bar L, and steam is beingadmitted through the port e. The piston F being connected with the shaftthrough the disk D, the movement of the piston around in the cylinderrevolves the shaft 0. When the shaft carries the cam M out of the way ofthe bar L, the spring 10 moves the bar, thereby closing the valve andcutting OK the steam. The cylinder A, in front of the piston, is in opencommunication with the exhaust chamber 1), through the port 6 so long asthe abutment is in cylinder A. Then the piston in its movement nears theabutment, the cam I-I first strikes the slide P, thereby moving itbackward. This turns the valve N so that the cylinder 0 is incommunication with the exhaust chamber 1). The cam then strikes the barG, and forcibly pushes it backward, and this moves the abutment out ofthe cylinder, back into the box, where it is held by the cam until thepiston passes. When the cam H moves away from the slide P and bar G, thespring p moves the slide forward, thereby turning the valve N so thatsteam enters the cylinder e and through port e from the steam chamber1); and the steam pressure in said cylinder 6 forces the abutmentforward into the cylinder A. Immediately thereafter the cam M strikesthe bar L, thereby opening valve K and admitting steam to the cylinderA. The cam M is adjustable in size, whereby it may be made to hold thevalve K open for any desired part of the revolution of the piston. Thisadj ustability is secured by the following construction: The cam is madeup of several parts m m m all of which are provided with hubs m m mrespectively. The hub m of the cam m is fast to the shaft. The hub m ofcam m is loosely mounted on the hub m, and the hub m of cam m is looselymounted on the hub m In the parts of the cam are holes at through whichpins m may be passed. The cams m m? may be moved into any desiredposition relative to each other, and held in said position by the pins mlying in the said holes m".

The arrangement of the cams may be substantially as shown in thedrawings,when they are spread out, like a fan, and engage with the bar Lfor about three quarters of the revolution of the shaft and piston, orthey may be closed together so that they engage with said bar forab'ont.one quarter of a revolution of the shaft; or they may occupy anyintermediate position between those named, and thereby the engine may bemade to take steam into its cylinders for any desired part of themovement of the piston.

Having described my invention, I claim- 1. Inarot-ary engine, thecombination of an annular cylinder,a revoluble shaft, a disk secured tothe shaft entering and closinga slot in the inner periphery of thecylinder, a piston secured to said disk and movable in the cylinder,with a sliding abutment having the inlet port (2', the exhaust port a, avalve in said inlet port and a cam secured to the shaft for operatingsaid valve, substantially as and for the purpose specified.

2. In a rotary engine, the combination of an annular cylinder, arevoluble shaft, a disk secured to the shaft entering and closing a slotin the inner periphery of the cylinder and a piston secured to said disklying in the cylinder, with a box in communication with the cylinder, asliding abutment lying in said box and movable into and out of saidcylinder, said abutment having two ports 6' 12 an inlet chamber in thebox above the abutment, an exhaust chamber in the box below theabutment, a valve in the inlet port e, means for operating said valve,and means for operating the abutment, substantially as and for thepurpose specified.

3. In a rotary engine, the combination of an annular cylinder, arevoluble shaft, a disk secured to the shaft entering and closing a slotin the inner periphery of the cylinder and a piston secured to said disklying in said cylinder, with a sliding abutment having two steam ports 6e in communication respectively with the inlet and exhaust pipes, avalve in said inlet port and a cam variable in size secured to the shaftand adapted to operate said valve, substantially as and for the purposespecified.

at. In a rotary engine, the combination of an annular cylinder, arevoluble shaft, a disk secured to the shaft entering and closing a slotin the inner periphery of the cylinder and a piston secured to said diskand movable in said cylinder, with a sliding abut ment and means formoving the same into and out of the cylinder, said abutment having acylinder in. its rear end, a fixed piston lying in said cylinder, a porta in the abutment adapted to permit the entrance and escape of steamfrom said cylinder, a valve in said port, a bar secured to the side ofthe abutment, a slide mounted on said bar, suitable connection betweensaid slide and valve, and a cam on the shaft adapted to strike the endsof said slide and bar, substantially as and for the purpose specified.

5. In a rotary engine in combination with the ,inlet valve, a rotaryshaft and a cam secured to said shaft composed of two or more parts, onepart having a hub which is secured to the shaft, the other parts havinghubs loosely mounted on the hub of the first part, said parts havingholes for the reception of a pin and suitable mechanism connected with I5

